All organizations are entropic. They never drift towards simplicity, but become more complicated as they grow.
Left unchecked, complexity will eventually kill growth.
Therefore, a leader’s job is to find opportunities to simplify.
When organizations grow, complexity spreads in one of two ways: too much or too little.
Too many tedious rules, ineffective meetings, or restrictive procedures are examples of too much. Unnecessary slack in the system is a symptom of growth that we must work to eliminate.
This is often why big companies go through reorganizations. They layoff employees and restructure their business units because too much middle-management and bureaucracy have stunted their ability to grow.
To fight complexity in an environment of too much:
- Kill rules that slow things down
- Cut ineffective meetings
- Empower others to make good decisions
On the other hand, complexity also threatens to limit growth when we do too little.
Too few standards, siloed knowledge, or lack of product focus all contribute to the complexity often experienced by small businesses and start-ups. These organizations do too little to organize resources and struggle to scale because of it.
To fight complexity in an environment of too little:
- Document how to do things
- Cross-train your employees
- Organize your resources so people can find and build upon what’s already been done
Workarounds, one-offs, and exceptions will always be an easy way to get results today. But real leaders prioritize simplification because they know that the long-term growth of their organization depends on it.
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